'Gypsy' - A Sweet Kitty Stuck in a Sour Spot

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It was Friday late-morning, and I busy digging digital ditches in my office, thinking about lunch, when the Kat Fone meowed. It was Melissa - she had been referred to me by Meridian Animal Control. One of her kitties had been stuck for three days in a tree, could I help? I checked my schedule, and it was empty, so I said "Heck Yeah!", received directions to her house, and headed out.

When I arrived at the house, I was met by Lee (Melissa's husband), and led to the tree that had Gypsy trapped in its barkly clutches. Gypsy was about 30 feet up, on a nice limb, crying her eyes out, wanting to be rescued. Fortunately, there were some strong limbs above her for a tie-in point. A complication was that the tree was on the edge of a small patch of woods, with dense canopy all around it, preventing an easy throw-bag shot. I had to stand right under Gypsy's perch, and shoot the throw bag straight up in order to set the line. After one bounce off of a limb, I made a good throw line shot, and was able to install a climbing line. Melissa and Lee's father joined me during the equipment setup, and Melissa did some sweet talking to Gypsy during the line installation to keep her calm.

I geared up and was soon at height with Gypsy. She was not scared of me at all, and began kneading her paws softly on the limb as I approached. After a brief "lets-make-friends" period, Gypsy allowed me to grab her by the scruff and put her in the Kat bag. After a quick ride to the ground, I turned Gypsy over to Melissa, who whisked her inside for food, water, and loving. My three previous rescues all required a rescue-pole, so I was very happy to have a sweet, cooperative kitty (a friendly/non-traveler) -- I had nearly forgotten that they existed!